Monthly Archives: March 2012

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The day begins with House Education subcommittee at 8:30 am central. Bill topics of interest include the Tennessee Education Lottery / Hope scholarship, tuition discounts, the West Tennessee Solar Farm and an ombudsman bill.

In Senate Education, members will take up the lottery and a UT-initiated videoconferencing bill, among others.

In the House Consumer and Employee Affairs subcommittees, guns will be on the agenda.

In House Finance, Ways and Means, capital project funding and a CTAS library study will be included.

The University of Tennessee is an important and special higher education institution with a statewide campus and a critical impact on quality of life throughout the state.

That was the “UT Day on The Hill” message that students and staff from every campus took to Nashville in making today’s “UT Day on The Hill” in Legislative Plaza a strong one. University leadership – including chancellors and members of the President’s staff – were joined by UT Vols athletics directors Dave Hart and Joan Cronan and legendary quarterback Condredge Holloway in hosting breakfast to get the festivities off to a good start. The national UT Alumni Association – representing more than 325,000 UT graduates worldwide – sponsored and made the event possible.

President Joe DiPietro then took his leadership team on brief visits with Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey and House Speaker Beth Harwell. Meanwhile, students and University staff attended UT displays representing UT campuses at Knoxville, Martin, Chattanooga and Memphis, and the institutes of agriculture and public service.

After visiting with legislators and their staffers, the UT team wrapped activities inside the Plaza by joining President DiPietro for the opening of the House Education Committee. Following positive comments by Rep. Richard Montgomery, Rep. Craig Fitzhugh and Rep. Lois DeBerry before a standing room only committee room, President DiPietro acknowledged the UT contingent of students and staff who joined him, then thanked committee members for their support of higher education.

Review the series of Twitter messages covering events as they happened by searching under hashtags: #UTDay and #UTDayOnTheHill.

University of Tennessee President Joe DiPietro will be joined by chancellors and students from each of UT campuses for the University’s annual effort to showcase UT’s statewide reach and impact for members of the
Tennessee General Assembly.

From 8 am to noon inside Legislative Plaza, students will staff displays representing UT’s campuses and institutes. The students will visit with legislators and talk about why they chose to pursue higher education through the University of Tennessee.

UT alumni and some members of the UT Board of Trustees also will be on hand to support the effort, which is made possible by the 325,000-member UT Alumni Association.

Get Twitter updates on the day’s activities by following @UTPresidentJoe and at hashtag: #UTDay.

With University of Tennessee campus chancellors and UT College of Law student Todd Skelton on hand in the audience, President Joe DiPietro made the case at today’s state Senate Education Committee for the University’s FY 2013 funding needs.

Questions came from Sen. Burks and Sen. Gresham. Burks asked about funding of the University’s non-formula units, and DiPietro noted a $ 2.7 million budget allowance for those. Gresham asked about the Tennessee Solar Farm, which celebrates ribbon cutting on April 12.

Following those questions and the brief presentation, members voted unanimously in support of the UT funding proposal. It now moves forward.